ROWELL: Can Sunderland repeat Chelsea shock?

ONE of the best Sunderland performances I’ve seen in the last decade was the 3-0 win at Chelsea back in 2010.

With a trip to Chelsea coming up, it’s an opportune time to think what can be achieved when expectations are low.

Sunderland went to Stamford Bridge that day supposedly as cannon fodder, but turned the tables to not only provide a great result, but also a superb performance.

Who could forget Nedum Onuoha’s goal, a mazy dribble and cute finish?

Further goals from Danny Welbeck and Asamoah Gyan gave Sunderland an emphatic victory, which shook the Premier League that weekend.

The score didn’t flatter Sunderland, if anything it flattered Chelsea, as every player in red and white played to their maximum and Steve Bruce got his tactics spot-on.

In particular, his decision to play Kieran Richardson on the right side of midfield, with instructions to stop Ashley Cole’s forward runs, worked a treat.

Gyan and Welbeck up front gave the Chelsea back four a torrid afternoon and both players deservedly got on the scoresheet.

But where Sunderland won the game that day I felt, was in midfield, where Bolo Zenden, Jordan Henderson and Lee Cattermole, along with Richardson, dominated that important area and played with great energy and imagination.

I remember watching Carlo Ancelotti, the then Chelsea manager, in his press conference afterwards, and he looked shell-shocked.

It was a result he clearly didn’t see coming.

I’d love to think on Saturday, the current Sunderland team could come up with something similar and if they did, it would be an even bigger shock than it was back in 2010.